1. Field of the Invention
The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to motor technology and more particularly to adapter apparatus for coupling a cable to a motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of commercial and industrial applications require availability of motorized power in a clean or “hygienic” environment. As one example, consider a meat processing and packing facility. Typically, a meat processor requires availability of saws and other types of heavy equipment while having to meet standards for food handling. More specifically, production requirements call for the equipment to be outfitted with motors having substantial output and competitive pressure requires that the equipment have minimal maintenance needs with a high degree of availability. Unfortunately, hygiene standards for food processing complicate use of such equipment and typically prevent operators from reaching a desired degree of equipment availability.
For example, consider that motors used in hygienic applications such as food processing are typically subject to frequent high temperature and high-pressure cleaning cycles. Cleaning cycles may involve use of corrosive cleaning agents as well as rigorous rinsing cycles. This has given rise to motors specifically designed to operate in hygienic environments.
A typical hygienic motor includes an easy to clean exterior, such as a housing with any other exposed surfaces made from stainless steel. Openings such as those needed for ventilation of the motor, are sealed to prevent infiltration and growth of bacteria. Sealing the motor also serves to protect the motor internals while facilitating and enduring harsh repeated cleaning cycles.
However, many sealed hygienic motors available in the marketplace are not compatible with requirements set forth by the European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group (EHEDG) and suffer from additional design inefficiencies. For example, many conventional servomotor designs receive power and control signals from electrical cables via male connector ports that extend perpendicularly (referred to hereinafter as “vertically”) from the surface of the motor housing. Motors that employ these connectors suffer from the disadvantages that the connectors themselves are not hygienic (i.e., the surfaces of the connectors are not designed according to specific hygienic specifications) and also that, due to their vertical orientation, they increase the vertical profile of the device. In particular, the new models of cables are cladded with materials resistant to high pressure and temperatures, which tends to make the cables more stiff and less bendable. FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional assembly 100 (which is not drawn to scale) in which an extending male adapter 102 couples to a female connector 104 and then to a cable 106. As illustrated, because the cables and female connectors which couple to the extending male connectors are typically thick and have a significant bend radius, the total height of the arrangement (male connector+female connector+cable) can reach over one foot. This is a considerable addition to the dimensional profile of the servomotor and particularly disadvantageous for facilities in which there is limited space available at the motor location.
Additionally, many motor housings are designed to vent through a rear cover of the housing. Placement of the vent in this exposed location detracts from the hygienic quality of the motor design because the rear cover is typically subject directly to high-pressure fluid during wash downs. Another disadvantage of this placement is that it requires the rear cover to be specially machined to incorporate a vent structure.
What are needed are solutions that enable a coupling of a cable to a hygienic motor that maintains hygienic standards, that does not significant increase the dimensional profile of the motor as a whole, or suffer from the other disadvantages of conventional motor adapters. Preferably, the solutions are simple to install, cost effective, easy to clean, and simple to maintain.